And if we have just 3 people in the Edwards 'community bypass the farmer's market to buy direct from the grower by traveling to the tangerine greenhouse in their eco-friendly, fuel-efficient, 60 mile-per-gallon-getting hybrid cars, covering 60 miles each (or 180 miles total), we find that they burn exactly the same amount of fuel as does shipping the tangerines by rail and truck 900 miles from Florida!

In the grocery store, for example, I buy tangerines when they are in season not only because I love their flavor, but because they are presented in big, shining orange heaps, sometimes with wonderfully crackly dark green leaves mixed in.